


Judgement Day

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [78]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Age Play, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Episode: s05e19 Judgment Day (Part 2), Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Minor Character Death, Non-Sexual Age Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 01:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18273050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: When it happens, it feels like a sigh went through the whole office.





	Judgement Day

It was a terrible thing to say. It was something that no one in their right mind should have been saying, and no one was proclaiming it from the rooftops. But it felt like there was a sigh that went throughout the office when it was discovered that Jenny had died. Word spread quickly, ripples murmuring through the whole office. DiNozzo and Ziva, her protection detail, were under scrutiny from outsiders, but neither of them had  _let_  her die directly. DiNozzo had been trying to  _find_  her when they came across the horror scene in the desert in California.

When Gibbs called asking for a sitrep from Jenny, both DiNozzo and Ziva were at a loss for words. DiNozzo eventually found it in himself to speak. "Boss..."

"DiNozzo? Why do you have the Director's phone?" Gibbs asked.

DiNozzo and Ziva shared a look. DiNozzo didn't know how to explain. "Boss...the Director...she..."

There was a pregnant pause, during which no one said anything, and the world held still. "How bad?" Gibbs eventually asked.

DiNozzo hung his head, swallowing to try and get rid of the lump in his throat. "She's gone, Gibbs."

Another pause. Gibbs said, "I'm getting the next flight out there. Don't touch anything until I'm there, all right?"

DiNozzo agreed and they moved outside the diner. Ziva looked around. "You know, despite my...familiarity with Director Shepard before I came on board, I am somewhat...relieved that she is gone."

"Gibbs said he thought she might be dying," DiNozzo said softly. "But if she wasn't, she certainly had a death  _wish_."

Ziva murmured her assent. "What do you intend on telling Gibbs when he gets here?"

DiNozzo cleared his throat. "The truth, I guess," his voice cracked at the end.

"He won't be mad at you, Tony," Ziva said, voice offering no room for question. "If anything, I imagine he will simply be glad that you are alive."

DiNozzo nodded and they lapsed into silence. Eventually,a car drove up to them. It was too soon to be Gibbs, so DiNozzo didn't know who to expect to exit the car. Assistant Director Vance certainly wasn't high on the list, though that's who exited the vehicle. "DiNozzo. David," he greeted. "Start working the crime scene. ME's will be here shortly to escort the bodies to Washington."

Without a word, DiNozzo nodded and started to move towards their car, where he had kept his gear. Ziva was a step behind him. "I suppose he will be asking us what happened too, yes?" Ziva asked.

"Probably. And something tells me he won't be as forgiving as Gibbs was," DiNozzo muttered.

"Gibbs didn't say anything," Ziva pointed out.

"Exactly," DiNozzo said, pulling out his gear and heading into the diner.

They got to work on the scene, documeting everything, marking bullets and shattered windows and all the bodies. It was all DiNozzo could do to keep moving, collecting evidence silently. He and Ziva moved without looking at each other, and without looking at Vance. The work stretched all the way through the night into the early morning, and as DiNozzo and Ziva were bringing out the last of their stuff, Gibbs walked up to them from a third car in the parking lot. "I told you to wait," he said by way of greeeting.

"And I told them not to," Vance said, walking out of the diner.

Gibbs stood a little straighter in clear challenge.

Vance didn't seem impressed. "The bodies are already on their way to DC. Doctor Mallard will be doing the autopsies."

Gibbs nodded and walked inside to see for himself what the damage was, without saying a word to either DiNozzo or Ziva to ask what had happened. DiNozzo felt his stomach twist. He knew Vance would be less forgiving than Gibbs, but if  _Gibbs_  didn't forgive them for this...they were completely screwed. Their careers would be over. If they weren't outright fired, they would never move up the ranks. But that wasn't the scariest thing to DiNozzo. No, the scariest thing to him was if Gibbs didn't forgive him, he would lose the last of the emotional support he so desperately needed.

Ziva put a hand on his shoulder once they had finished packing. "Let's go back to the hotel, yes? We haven't slept for at least a day."

DiNozzo nodded and the two of them drove out of the desert, knowing that no matter what else happened, they would need rest before everything came to a head. And so that's what they did. They went back to their hotel room and immediately fell asleep the second their bodies hit their respective beds.

The knock that came to woke them up was a rude awakening. It took DiNozzo a moment to remember why he was in a hotel, then it all came back to him. The murders. The desert. The diner. Jenny was dead.

He took a breath. He shouldn't feel as calm about that as he did. He was almost...relieved. And that was a horrible thing to say, but he couldn't deny it.

The knock came again and DiNozzo walked to the door to answer it. Gibbs was on the other side, and DiNozzo involuntarily swallowed. He let Gibbs in, and Ziva, who was now waking up as well, moved to the bathroom with the excuse that she needed to shower. As soon as the water started, DiNozzo opened his mouth to explain, but Gibbs held up a single finger. He paced the length of the room, and DiNozzo swallowed. Was this the moment he got fired? "What happened, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

DiNozzo swallowed again. "Director Sheppard, she...she tried to give us the rest of the day after the funeral off. She wanted to investigate his death on her own, I think. And...and I tried to follow after her, but Ziva and I couldn't get there fast enough." DiNozzo shook his head. "It's my fault, I'm the Senior Field Agent. I should have insisted that Ziva and I at least tail her discreetly."

"And, what? Go against a direct order from the Director?" Gibbs asked. He shook his head. "You couldn't have known. You're not in trouble for something that you couldn't have known was going to happen."

"I should have known," DiNozzo insisted. "I actually felt  _relief_  as my first instinct.  _Relief_ , Gibbs. The new Director, whoever they are, is definitely going to use that against me."

"Tony..." Gibbs was at a loss for words, or at least thinking over his next ones very carefully. "She manipulated you for years. She was trying to use our secret all the time. Waiting for an opportunity where I'd fold. Her behavior wasn't that of a stable Director. She was dying, kid. And knowing her, she wanted to go out on her own terms. She knew you two would be caught in the crossfire. She didn't care. I'm not mad at you. I could never be mad at you, knowing what she did to you."

Tony felt his eyes sting. "I tried to help her," he said. "Even with all she did, I tried to help her. You have to believe me."

"I do, Tony. I do," Papa said, walking over and hugging him. "I believe you, kiddo. It's okay."

Tony buried his neck in Papa's shoulder, willing himself to believe that. After all, Papa didn't lie without good reason, and he especially didn't lie to his kids about being in trouble. Gibbs rubbed his back and Tony curled into Papa a little more, trying to believe with his full heart that Papa wasn't getting him into any more trouble than he already was.

There was a knock at the door and Tony practically jumped a foot in surprise. Papa took a step back and Tony forced himself to at least pretend to be adult for however long whoever was at the door would be here. Ziva stepped out of the bathroom, towel around her hair and wearing a bathrobe. She answered the door to reveal Vance on the other side. He took one look at her and his eyes darted away. "Is this a bad time?"

"I just got out of the shower," she replied simply. "Whatever needs to happen, just let me know and I will help as soon as I'm dressed."

Vance cleared his throat and looked further into the room, spying Tony. "All three of you are to fly back to DC today. Let Gibbs know. I trust that you won't miss your flight." And with that, he left.

"Did that feel like a threat to anyone else?" Tony mumbled.

"Oh, it was a warning," Ziva said. "For what, I'm not sure."

The three stood in the room, unsure on how to proceed. Papa coughed and said, "I guess we should get ready to head back, then," he said. "We can figure out more about this case once we're back home."

Tony nodded and Ziva silently grabbed her clothes and went back into the bathroom to get dressed. Tony looked at Papa nervously. "What are we gonna do?" he asked quietly.

"Don't worry, Tony. Nothing's going to happen," he murmured.

"How can you be so sure?" Tony asked. "I know that everyone's seen the Director pushing us hard lately. People will think that we dropped the ball on purpose."

Papa shook his head. "Don't worry, Tony. I won't let anything happen, okay?"

Tony nodded. He believed Papa would make sure everything was all right in the end.

Now, a couple days later, the case wrapped up and Vance sitting comfortably in his new office, everyone was sending nervous glances at each other. DiNozzo could feel something off in the air, but he didn't know what it was. When Gibbs' glance turned upwards, Tony looked behind himself to find Vance looking down at them. He inclined his head towards his new office, and Gibbs stood silently, moving to the stairs. DiNozzo followed him, naturally, but it felt like he wasn't walking on the ground, instead maybe walking through molasses, or on clouds, or whatever cliche people used nowadays to say that they couldn't really feel themselves moving.

They got up to Vance's office, the whole team. Or, should DiNozzo have said  _former_  team? Because the second the doors were closed and they were standing in front of Vance's desk, his first act as Director was to break them up. Ziva's liason position had officially been terminated. McGee was being reassigned to Cyber Crimes. DiNozzo was holding his breath, hoping that even if he was reassigned, he might be able to stay nearby, the way McGee got to...but it wasn't meant to be. He opened his new assignment folder as Vance explained that he would be sent afloat, and the ship would be leaving tomorrow.

The rest of the day, everyone sat in the bullpen, save Gibbs. McGee looked completely lost. "So...we're really being split up?" he asked softly.

"It would appear so," Ziva said with a scowl, packing up her stuff. "For what it is worth, both of you, I have enjoyed working here."

McGee nodded. DiNozzo just sat there, looking at his new assignment. He would have to pack. He would have to get someone to look after his fish. He wouldn't get the time to go over to Papa's tonight, to get one last goodbye before he was afloat for who knew how long.

"Tony?" McGee asked.

DiNozzo looked up, cleared his throat. "Yeah, McGee?"

"Do you...want to come over tonight? Have one last beer together, or something?" McGee offered.

DiNozzo laughed hollowly. "I won't be able to, Probie. Have to pack up all my stuff before they send me off to sea for several months. One civilian among thousands upon thousands of sailors."

McGee looked crushed. "I guess that makes sense," he said.

DiNozzo shook his head, looking around. He never thought he would cry at never getting to see these orange walls again, but here he was. He started packing up his stuff the way Ziva was. "Just count yourself lucky, McGee," DiNozzo said, as he walked over to McGee, returning all the things he had stolen from his probie over the years.

"Why's that?" McGee asked, eyes wide. Not fully understanding the magnitude of what this meant. Not yet.

DiNozzo bowed his head, swallowed. Leaned forward to whisper in McGee's ear. "Because you'll still get to talk to Papa if you need to."

McGee stiffened. DiNozzo sighed. Yeah, the full magnitude of what was going on definitely just hit him over the head. "But...?"

"I won't be able to call from the carrier, McGee," DiNozzo said. "Not without other people around, at any rate. You get to be an only child."

"What? But...but..." McGee stammered. "I don't...I can't..."

"McGee," DiNozzo said, putting a hand on his probie's shoulder. "Don't tell yourself you can't have this just because I'm no longer there, all right? You need it as much as I do. Maybe more. You not allowing yourself something you need isn't healthy, remember?"

Reluctantly, McGee nodded.

DiNozzo nodded back. "So don't be afraid to go to Gibbs. Just because I can't, doesn't mean you shouldn't."

"Okay," McGee said softly.

"Yeah?" DiNozzo pressed.

"Yeah," McGee agreed. "And I'll write to you every chance I get, understand?"

DiNozzo smiled. "Yeah, I understand."

Ziva looked between the two of them. "I'm afraid I will not be able to write," she said softly.

"It's okay, Ziva," DiNozzo said. "We'll always remember the good times we had with you."

Ziva gave a thin smile and nodded.

All three of them packed up in silence, and left for the night at seven, leaving Gibbs with three empty desks, whenever he returned from whatever he was doing. DiNozzo wished that Gibbs could bring the team back together, but right now he was probably doing damage control. Just as well. He wouldn't be able to bear this goodbye in-person.

**Author's Note:**

> Quick notes, guys: my computer went kaput, so updates might be slower than usual depending on ow much regular access to a computer I have, one. Two, I still intend to work on this series, updating at least once a month until June if I have any say in this. And three, after June's update (or possibly before, depending), this series may go on hiatus. I enjoy it a lot, but my inspiration has been running low and I think I need some time away from it. I have an anniversary fic planned and written for June, but I'm absolutely winging everything else. It gets stressful, so break time it is. Thanks for understanding, I love you all!


End file.
